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Tell Us Your Wine Making Story!

If so, we’d love to hear from you! Simply submit a picture of your wine setup and tell us a bit about it (i.e. What is your favorite wine to make? What pieces make up your operation? What makes you/your setup unique?). We will also feature your submission on our blog where you can share it with your family and friends!

We can’t wait to hear from you, so upload a picture and tell us about your wine making operation now!

18 thoughts on “Tell Us Your Wine Making Story!”

I have been making wine for about 5 years only the last time has it been drinkable. I have 50 chambracin vines and this year got 26 gallons of wine. I wish there was a chart to tell how to treat acid and PH when the two are determined with my Hanna meter. Many thanks, Bill

I have resently aquired all the needed equipment to make wine. I was a avid beer maker years ago, so the the wine making process is very familiar. I do have a problem with space to make my wine which happens to be in the basement. I wondered just how cool can it be to properly start the fermenting process. I really enjoy your website

Mark, it is important that the fermentation temperature be at least 70F and no higher than 75F. If the fermentation is to cool the wine yeast may slow down or become completely dormant. If the fermentation is too warm, then you are increasing the chances of unwanted bacteria/mold growth, and in extreme cases, the production of off-tasting fusel oils from the yeast themselves from being over-stressed.

I recently bottled my Niagra after clearing for two months. I wanted it a little sweeter so after determining the correct amount I added 1 bottle of wine conditioner to 5 gal. and bottled my wine. Then it started refermenting and I had to unbottle it and put it back into a carboy. I lost several bottles from blown corks and brought the liquid level back up in the carboy. I added a dose of potassium sorbate and sodium metibisulfite and it is still working away! How can I save this wine? I didn’t want to raise the alcohol level and I’m also concerned about over oxygenating it in the salvage process!

Bob, at this point your options are few. The simplest thing to do is to cool the fermenter down so that the wine yeast will quit fermenting. Putting the wine in an refrigerator or similar wold be optimal. Once the yeast stops fermenting it will settle to the bottom. Then you can rack the wine off the yeast. Do not add more Potassium Sorbate, but I would add another dose of sodium metabisulfite.

I am making 15 gal. of riesling from fresh juice, but am having trouble getting it to clear. I started the batch in October and I added liquid Isenglass 2 weeks ago and put it in the garage for cold stabilization. It still isn’t clearing, but the wine tastes good and doesn’t have any off odors. Should I add another type of fining and if so should I wait for the wine to warm to room temperature or do it while the wine is still cold from being in the garage? Thanks for your help.
John

I have a question about preparing oak chips. The directions state that you boil for 15 minutes, discard the water, and then use the chips. What is the purpose in boiling? Aren’t you losing a lot of the "essence" of the oak chips doing that, especially if you pitch the water? One person told me that that an alternative would be to soak them in vodka, or some other neutral spirit, and then use both the chips and the vodka in the must.

I picked about 2 gallons of Rose Hips ( wild ) . I made some wine with them but it turned out pretty sour. Can I add some Chardonnay to it to help it out? I could dump it all into a bucket and try something else. Maybe I should dump it out and try again next Spring.

I am attempting a raspberry chocolate meade port. Will I need to boil the honey and skim off .. or will the impurities (if any) come out with the residual impurities of the chocolate powder… also is there a chocolate syrup that would be better than powder? This is my 2nd port .. My 1st blue and loganberry ( 07 )turned out great .. but I misplaced the recipe. Do you have a meade port recipe? Thanking you for your great website and response. Mel

Hi, I have some fresh unprocessed apple cider and honey and would like to make a gallon of apple mead. I also have about five gallons in secondary fermentation for apple wine that I could take a gallon from. Can you give me any tips?

Hello, I have a question regarding my apple wine. I made 5 gals last year. It fermented VERY slowly, and I sweetened the wine progressively over the summer to raise the alcohol content to stop the fermentation. Bottled the batch up Oct 1 as it had been still for 3 weeks. Sampled a few bottles and noticed it is effervescent! Not real fizzy, but definitley sparkling. I added 3/4 gal of apple juice before the final racking but no SO2. I stirred to degas, but just by hand. Should I worry about exploding bottles? By the way, it is delicious!

I recently purchased an auto-siphon, followed the directions, but it still will not flow; I ended up using just a hose. I had one carboy on a counter, and the other on the floor. It just will not flow. I need some help figuring out what I am doing wrong.

Hi Ed,
I am making some cherry wine. I put the juice in the fermenter and when it was time to add the yeast I did. I put the air lock on it though. It never started to bubble but I did notice "activity" in the bucket. I saw your article about air is needed for the yeast to work correctly. I took the lid off and but a very thin cloth over the bucket. Question – the activity I am seeing, is my wine actually fermenting and will it be okay. How will I know?